Student reacts to decline in unemployment among persons with disabilities

Recently, I listened to “Disability in Decline” by NPR’s The Indicator. This podcast talked about how there a rise in the number of people who have left the work force because of a disability. In 1994, the number of 25-54 year olds unemployed because of disability was less than 5 million. In 2014, that number was 7.3 million. Since then, that number went down by 600,000 people. That is nearly a 7 percent decline in those unemployed because of disability. Economists are saying half of that 7 percent is due to people changing the reason they are unemployed, now saying they are home taking care of their families. The other half is due to job finding.

This has led to questions because the number of unemployed has normally grown, not only during recessions, but also in times of recovery. We are in recovery now, so why are there so many less disabled people unemployed? One of the reasons may be our stronger labor market, and employers are more willing to hire disabled workers. Businesses may likely be more comfortable hiring disabled workers because they do not have to raise wages. This is both good and bad. It’s good because people who are disabled or formerly disabled can get jobs more easily than they used to. It’s bad because they are likely not being payed as much as other employees. In the end, it is always good seeing the number of unemployed go down. It means there are more opportunities in our economy, which is how we grow and prosper.

On a side note, my cousin who is highly disabled—she is 25 and acts like a 7-year-old—has two jobs. She bags at a local grocery store, and she works at this new bakery called “No Label at the Table”. The owner created it with her autistic son in mind, and only hires young adults with disabilities to help bake and run her bakery. Isn’t it great that we are becoming a place where people like my cousin are more accepted and given opportunities that they never had in the past? 

That is great news.  A gain of 300,000 positions (or opportunities to fill existing positions) for persons who were at least to some degree disabled shows that the economy is performing reasonably well. Everyone really does want to see the unemployment numbers go down, and the current 4.1% official rate (in the spring of 2018) is a reasonable level, although 3% would be better.  As social workers we are especially interested in rising wages for low-income workers and opportunities for meaningful employment roles that persons with disabilities can enter. In times of low unemployment it is usual to see declines in poverty and increases in wages, along with gains made by persons against whom many employers are more likely to discriminate in times of high unemployment.  The employment indicator is one of the most important indicators we can examine, and I am glad you found this good podcast episode to bring our attention to this good news.